Inspired Bravery

I had tennis practice today. I joined a tennis league in town and am having a blast playing tennis and making new friends. So today I was in the middle of a volley drill. I went after a ball that probably I should have in my right mind not tried so hard to get. But I went after it anyway, I gave it my best run, I pushed myself to get there, I stretched forward to see if I could get my racket to the ball before it hit the ground a second time. My racket came into contact with the ball, but before I could look up to see if I had made a successful shot I realized that I was continuing to go forward. There was quite a bit of momentum behind me and I had gotten off balance when I stretched out. The next thing I knew I was in slow motion and I was going down. I put my hands down first, then my torso and then my face hit. My chin was the only thing that got a bit banged up. All the women who were there came over to help me up and I did get right up, but I knew that I had scraped an amount of skin off my chin but how much I didn't know. There was some blood involved, but as there was no mirror I didn't know just how much. I followed Coach Scott to her office area and she helped me treat the wound. I got right up and walked back out onto the courts and was ready to get back to practice.
Coach Scott told me I was pretty tough. She was glad to see me get up and just deal with it, then get right back to practice.
Anybody that knows me well, knows that being tough probably does not come natural to me. The first thing that came to my mind was that I was embarrassed ofcourse, then mad because I fell, then I really wanted to cry because it hurt. The next thought that entered my mind was how brave Jack was. What is a scraped up chin in comparison to the procedures that Jack goes through? I stood up tall and just dealt with it, thanks to Jack and his strength and bravery I was inspired to do the same. Thanks Jack for helping your mom be stronger and braver than she has been before. By the way the ladies that watched the ball to see where I hit it said it was a great, smooth, shot and it was in! That made me very happy. Atleast I hit it in. Too bad it wasn't a game winning shot then it really would have been worth it!
Will I go after a ball again and not be afraid to fall on my face, I hope so. My kids were pretty impressed with me when they saw my battle wound, the first thing they asked me was if I cried...I said no I did not cry I got right back up and played, they were shocked, because they know that I am kind of wimpy. Not anymore!